Movement Disorders

Combining a comprehensive clinical visit with such advanced imaging as MRI and DaTscan™ Spectroscopy, our movement disorders neurologists and neurosurgeons work together to diagnose and treat patients. Saint Luke’s provides patients with the full range of medical, surgical, and rehabilitation options, including being one of the few hospitals in the nation to pioneer and provide “asleep” deep brain stimulation (DBS) surgery.

Saint Luke's treats all movement disorders, including but not limited to:

• Ataxia
• Atypical Parkinsonism
• Chorea
• Dystonias
• Essential tremor
• Gait disorders
• Hemifacial spasm
• Huntington’s disease
• Parkinson’s disease
• Spasticity
• Tics
• Tourette syndrome

We perform botulinum toxin injections to manage blepharospasm, cervical dystonia, focal limb dystonia, hemifacial dystonia, spasticity, and many other conditions.

Our doctors use proven rating scales to assess symptoms and severity, and arrange additional testing or support. They continually evaluate each patient and adjust medications as needed.

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) can provide dramatic relief for patients suffering from Parkinson’s disease, essential tremor, and dystonia. The procedure involves placing tiny electrodes into specific regions of the brain to send intermittent electrical impulses and interfere with abnormal brain activity in these areas. As a result, patients experience relief from symptoms of the disease. DBS surgery can significantly improve the quality of life for patients.

Until recently, DBS was only performed with patients awake and immobilized in a head frame. Saint Luke’s is among an elite group of hospitals—just a few in the nation, and the only one in Kansas City—that perform DBS using a frameless technique and with the patient comfortably asleep under general anesthesia.